Mutation

It's hard to think that before all this, I dreamed of adventure. I wanted it so badly, I would stay up all night just thinking about it. I dreamed of one day being able to do something with my powers. Something great. When I first arrived at the Xavier Institute, my hopes only grew.

My first day was the most intimidating. I arrived there at around sundown and after the long plane ride from Colorado, I was pretty tired. Nevertheless, I pressed my hands against my face and moved some cold water from my water bottle onto it, waking myself up a bit. I then moved it back into the bottle, the whole time making sure the taxi driver wasn't looking.

When I walked it, Prof. Xavier led me into his office at sat me down. After a few minutes, a tall woman with long white hair walked in. She smiled down at me quickly.

"Oh, so this is the one you've been talking about?" She said as she turned to Professor X and smiled. She sat down next to me and extended her hand. "My name is Storm. I'm one of the teachers here at the institute." I nervously shook her hand and then stuck it back between my legs.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect here. Would I be treated the same way I was treated by my peers at school? Like an outcast? So far, it didn't seem like it.

"Ashley, Storm will be your mentor since both of you have very similar powers." Xavier said, giving a small smile at the both of us.

"What do you mean?" I asked meekly, "What can you do?"

She smiled and waved her hand before me. A small rain cloud appeared and it started raining on my shoes. At the moment, I was in awe but later I would be a little upset about my now soaked sneakers.

"I can control the weather. Kind of like how you can control the elements."

Soon after this small meeting, I was given a schedule for both Bayville High and the Xavier school and sent upstairs to meet my roommate. When I walked in, I felt under attack by a loud high pitch voice.

"Finally! I was waiting all day for you!" The girl in front of me shouted. She had her light brown hair up in tight pony tail and her make up was done almost perfectly.

For a second I looked at myself. I couldn't help but compare since that's just what girls do.

I was standing there with my dark brown hair rolling from my shoulders down to my mid-waist and my shorter side bangs dangling in front of my face. Needless to say, I was much less put together then she was.

"Hi! My name is Kitty!" she cheered happily. Her kindness caused a small smile to appear on my face as I placed my bags down on the floor.

"Hi. I'm Ashley. It's very nice to meet you." I outstretched my hand to her and she looked down at it as if it was some strange language. She then tackled me in a hug and squeezed me tightly.

"I'm more of a touchy-feely kind of person." she said, letting out a small giggle. I laughed a bit too. My nervousness was starting to fade.

In the middle of our hug, there was a knock on the open door. Kitty then walked through me. Yes, walked through me. I stood there in awe as she walked up to the person that was standing behind me.

"Is this the new person?" A boy asked. I quickly spun around on my heals and flashed a quick smile. "Oh! Hi! I'm Bobby," As the boy put out his hand, it suddenly wrapped itself in nice. "But you can call me Iceman." He flashed a charming smile as he gripped my hand and started to freeze it too.

I smirked. So he wants to play? I'm game.

I suddenly caused a spark of fire out of my palm, causing my hand to ingulf itself in a fist size flame.

"I'm Ashley," He quickly pulled his hand away and stumbled backwards, staring at his now wet hand. I then removed the water from his hand and made it dangle in front of his eyes. "But you can call me Element." The water then evaporated before his eyes. He looked pretty stunned and I looked pretty victorious.

Kitty was laughing her ass of this whole time. "Guess you finally met your match!" She shouted with glee. Suddenly, a voice came up on the loudspeaker.

"Students, it's dinner time. Please come down to the dining hall." I recognized the voice. It was the professor. I then noticed that there weren't any loud speakers around. Kitty looked at me quickly and giggled a little bit.

"He can get into our minds. You'll get used to it." She then grabbed my hand and started pulling me down the stairs.

"Hey! I didn't even unpack yet!" I rebelled but she ignored my cries and continued pulling me.

"You're eating with my friends tonight!" She said, giggling a little bit.

When we made it into the dining hall, I noticed that there were three different round tables. One for teachers, and two for students. I notice Bobby or "Iceman" make his way over towards some kids that were waving at him. Kitty pulled me towards the other table.

At this table there were four people already seated. She pulled me down and through me into the chair next to her.

"Guys, I want you to meet Ashley. She's my new roommate." Kitty said, flashing a smile to everyone. Everyone started at me for a moment and then began smiling.

"Hi there! I'm Jean! I'm really glad you've decided to come here." A girl with flaming red hair said from three seats across. The boy next to her began to wave. He was wearing sunglasses inside which I found pretty strange.

"I'm Scott. It's really nice to finally meet you. The professor has been saying good things about you. Can you really control all the elements?" He asked. I was taken back for a moment. This was the first time someone has actually asked me about my powers.

"I.. Yeah, I can." I looked at the water glass in front of me and swished my hand over it. The water began to levitate under my hand. I then lowered it back into the glass.

"Impressive." He said, smiling as he clapped his hands.

"Well, if you're her roommate then you're my roommate to now." I looked over to the girl that was sitting opposite me at the table. She had two white streaks in her hair and wore tight gloves around her hands. She shoved a piece of chicken into her mouth as she tried to smile. "I'm Rogue."

I giggled a little bit as I looked over to the boy that was sitting next to her. He was staring down at his food, stuffing it into his mouth like he had been starved for days. He looked like he was in some sort of trance. Rogue followed my eyes and then stared at him in disgust.

"Kurt, you're being rude! Say hello!" She yelled in her very thick southern accent.

His eyes peaked up at me and my heart jumped a little. I've never seen eyes that light a shade of green before. He stared at me for a second before swallowing his food heavily.

"Rogue already did some of the introducing. I'm Kurt. Kurt Wagner." He smiled quickly at me before turning back to his food and stuffing some more into his mouth. He had some sort of accent but it was hard to pinpoint where it was from. Either way, it was a nice sounding accent.

When he looked up again I noticed him flash a quick glance over to Scott, who then began smiling a little. Needless to say, I was confused but at the same time, I was happier then I have been in years.

I started to eat my food as my nervousness melted away. I was starting to feel comfortable. I looked up occasionally to see exactly their powers were. Jean could move things. That was one of the first things I picked up.

She used her mind to move a plate of vegetables over towards her, made it levitate in front of her and then after she took her food, moved it back to where it was. I found that pretty astounding.

I guess everyone's powers seemed amazing to me because before this, I didn't know anyone else that had powers.

After dinner was over, Rogue and Kitty lead me back upstairs. I walked into the room and finally got my first good look at it. Three beds and the only empty one being the closest to the window.

"I guess it's kind of obvious which one is your bed." Rogue said as she plopped herself down onto her bed, grabbing her notebook that rested on her nightstand. "Oh and you're going to have to listen to Kitty talk to whichever boy it is this week on the phone every night. Get used to it." Rogue said, laughing a little bit to herself. Kitty turned around and stuck out her tongue at her.

"I only ever talk to Lance and Bobby on the phone!" She protested. Suddenly her phone began to ring. "Oh, and Zack. The cutie in my chemistry class." She giggled a little bit before throwing herself onto her bed as well as she picked up the phone.

I zoned myself out a little bit, trying to escape from the sound of Kitty jabbering on the phone and Rogue making the occasional comment about what she was say.

After I finished unpacking my things I stepped outside onto the balcony to take a good look at everything. Westchester was beautiful but nothing compared to the Rocky Mountain view I used to have. I started thinking about home. My mom must have been sleeping by the phone, waiting for my call but I decided I would save it for the next day. I knew my step dad wasn't missing me. He was the happiest to get me out of the house.

"She's a freak, Mary." He said to my mother as they both sat in the kitchen one night when they thought I was in bed.

"She's not a freak, she's just different." She protested.
"She can make fucking fireballs come out of her hands! She's set fire to her bed twelve times in the past year! She's flooded her room in her sleep! Admit it, Mary, you're kid is a freak and she doesn't belong here." I knew my step dad's angry voice quiet well by that point. He was obviously drunk but I knew he meant what he said.

"She's my child and I'll love her!" My mother yelled back.
"Well, she isn't my child!" He slammed his beer can down on the table and stormed out the front door, leaving my mother crying at the table.

There were many nights like these at the Fort household.

What my step dad said was true though. I didn't belong in Beaver, Colorado. Sure, I had a few friends but they would come and go with the seasons. I was always an outcast there. When I left, I was a 17 year old mutant that was never able to fit in but now, I could.